Crow hopes to land telling blow with sprinter

Patrick Bartley

AFTER months of legal battles and locking horns with the AFL over the Kurt Tippett scandal, Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman has finally found a pleasurable distraction.

With the club facing big legal bills plus the loss of draft picks, it has been a testing time for the club and Chapman, but on Saturday at Flemington one of his many racing interests could help ease the tension.

Chapman races the highly promising Go The Knuckle, who makes his Victorian debut with new trainer Robert Smerdon. Also in the ownership is Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich.

''You could say it's a nice change after what we've been through in recent months, but we handle it to the best of our ability and we've now got to put it behind us,'' Chapman said on Thursday.

''But out of all of those troubling times, and it's been tough on the club and the footy community, it was overwhelming how so many people have rallied to the cause.

''Naturally, after the AFL's decision, we've had to make certain changes … which basically means any long weekends in the next six months have gone by the board, as I'll be in the office filling in for our CEO.''

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Steven Trigg, the incumbent chief executive, has been suspended from the club for six months.

''We're getting going again, but I must say it's nice to discuss racehorses instead of the problems from the past few weeks,'' Chapman said.

On Adelaide Cup day in March, Go The Knuckle - a name that was coined with the help of some football friends - won the group 2 Sportingbet Classic for three-year-olds at Morphettville. He was so impressive that two months later he was pitted against the world's fastest sprinter, Black Caviar, in the Goodwood Handicap, and was not disgraced behind the wonder mare.

''We think he's a horse with some ability, so I discussed it with my other owners and his trainer, Mark Minervini, and it was decided that it would be better to have Go The Knuckle based in Melbourne to tackle some good races,'' Chapman said.

''It was refreshing that everyone was in agreement that the horse will come over the border, so we just hope everything works out.

''I've got a bit to do at the club so I won't be at Flemington on Saturday, but while Robert is very happy with the horse, he might just need the hit-out. If he does OK we'd like to think he could go on to races like the Standish Handicap [at Flemington on New Year's Day].''

Chapman, apart from being involved with the Crows, is a director of many companies and has also been instrumental in the marketing of racing, including Black Caviar's two trips to South Australia in April-May.

He arranged with the AFL and Channel Seven to start the Crows-Geelong game 90 minutes earlier so football fans had enough time to journey across town to watch Black Caviar.

Chapman will also have another starter during the Christmas-New Year period, with tough on-pace middle-distance galloper Spacecraft also competing.

''David Hayes has him and he's terribly honest in whatever he does and we hope that he can pick up a race over the Christmas-New Year break,'' he said.